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VICTORIA — For all the threats from Petronas to shelve for a generation plans to invest in liquefied natural gas here in B.C., it is important to note that the company has already spent billions to secure a major stake in provincial natural gas reserves. June 2, 2011. Petronas commits $1.1 billion to establish a strategic partnership with Calgary-based Progress Energy to develop its “vast land holdings” in the Montney natural gas formation in northeastern B.C. The partners also agree to explore opportunities to develop an LNG export terminal on the West Coast.

American telecom giant Verizon Wireless hasn’t finished rounding out a potential bid to enter the Canadian market, but Telus Corp. CEO Darren Entwistle has gone on the offensive to keep it from jumping in under the federal rules designed to foster new, fledgling entrants. Telus isn’t opposed to Verizon making a bid to come in, Entwhistle said, but he wants it to be on terms that are fair.

Mobilicity could be headed to bankruptcy after Industry Canada’s decision to block Telus from buying the struggling carrier unless another buyer that’s acceptable to Ottawa steps forward, according to telecom analysts.

Telus Corp.’s purchase of mobile- phone provider Mobilicity and the potential sale of another new entrant, Wind Mobile, is casting doubt on Canada’s ability to increase competition in the wireless market.

The announcement Thursday of a $380-million proposal by Telus to buy small independent Mobilicity suggests that Canada just isn’t big enough to support greater competition in mobile communications, analysts suggest.

The federal government is ending months of uncertainty with an announcement Wednesday that it will provide more than $700 million to fund the final phase of a major satellite project developed by Richmond, B.C.-based MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates.

A last-minute decision by the Harper government to reject a takeover of Canadian gas producer Progress Energy by Malaysian state-owned energy giant Petronas pulled the rug out from under B.C. Energy Minister Rich Coleman, who viewed the $5.9-billion deal as one of the catalysts for B.C.’s multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas strategy.

OTTAWA — The Conservative government announced Friday it will no longer block international efforts to place limits on the export of asbestos, effectively conceding the end of asbestos mining in Quebec with a promise of up to $50 million to diversify the economy of asbestos mining communities. Industry Minister Christian Paradis, who represents a riding[...]

Energy policy advisers at Natural Resources Canada who worked closely with an oil and gas lobby group advised the federal government that there were "numerous flaws" in a scientific study used by the European Union to justify climate change policies that would single out fossil fuels from Alberta's oilpatch, internal government memos obtained by Postmedia News have revealed.

Canadian oil exports "are essentially landlocked" because of mounting environmental concerns about the oilsands and bottlenecks in the U.S. midwest market, say newly released briefing notes prepared for Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.

The federal government acknowledged years ago that the dangers of chrysotile asbestos warranted limits on its export — but still fought against international restrictions over the past decade — internal records show.

Nail-biting over the possibility of an era of Canadian disunity triggered by an inward-looking Wildrose government in Alberta was for naught. Wildrose, for now, has been left in the opposition ranks of Alberta’s legislature, to the relief of progressive-minded voters and those fretting about national unity.

One day before Atlantis was set to launch — marking the end of the storied space shuttle program — the Canadian government seemed caught off guard by a proposal in the U.S. Congress to kill a major new space telescope in which Canada is heavily invested.

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